


Miss

by KittyKatGeorgie



Category: Captain Underpants Series - Dav Pilkey, captain under
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Misgendering, Trans Melvin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2020-04-12 11:54:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19131514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittyKatGeorgie/pseuds/KittyKatGeorgie
Summary: Melvin gets mistaken as a girl while he's at the store. Luckily, he has some friends to comfort him.





	Miss

**Author's Note:**

> Warning for this fic: talk of periods, accidental misgendering, and a brief panic attack
> 
> This is in my Acronym AU universe, where some of the kids have superpowers. Melvin's is invisibility

The relaxing music playing in the store wasn’t very relaxing, Melvin thought, as he stood in the middle of the aisle. It was like it was taunting him as he stared at the shelves, feeling completely out of place and lost. It wasn't even much of a comfort that he knew no one could see him- his hood was up, and his face was invisible, but it still felt like everyone that passed by was staring at him like they knew he shouldn’t be there. A boy his age shouldn’t have any interest in  _ feminine products. _

The packaging itself seemed to be mocking him. He’d never done this before. Usually his mom bought them, but she was busy and he didn’t want to bother her, and somehow he hadn’t noticed they were all gone until he realized that he had already used the last one. And he had to hurry, because toilet paper wasn’t going to work forever. But he didn’t know which ones his mom bought for him, or what any of this meant.

He did remember that the wrapper was yellow, and at the very least he knew what “wings” were, so he finally grabbed the pack and hurried up to the checkout, ignoring the woman who did a double-take at his (lack of a) face. He turned visible and kept his head down, trying to make sure his hood covered as much of his face as possible-

“Melvin? Hey!”

Melvin flinched and sighed, turning around to look at George and Harold. “Hey… guys.” He tucked the pads behind his back, out of sight.

“Whatcha up to?” Harold asked. Their arms were full of chips and candy and soda, likely the end product of another comic issue being copied and sold to the school.

“Just… buying some things.” Melvin hated his voice. He felt like it was too high.

George smiled a bit and playfully nudged his shoulder. “It’s cool dude. You wanna come hang out at the treehouse with us? We’re doing a movie night.”

“No, I’m… I’m alright. I just kinda wanna hide in my bed all night.”

Harold smiled sympathetically, when the cashier called “Next!” Melvin stepped up to the counter and kept his head down as he set the package down. The cashier smiled at him.

“Did you find everything ok, miss?” She asked.

Melvin’s head snapped up to look at her, and he froze. His heartbeat got louder in his ears as the word played over and over in his mind.  _ Miss. Miss. Miss- _

“Melvin? Hey, buddy?” George snapped his fingers and Melvin jumped a bit. He backed away from the counter before sprinting out of the store empty-handed.

He ended up hidden in the alley next to the store, curled up on the ground inside his sweatshirt. He breathed heavily as he looked at his shaking hands. What had just happened? Was he really having a panic attack because some girl called him  _ miss? _

No. No, it wasn’t  _ that.  _ It was the implication that  _ somebody thought he was a girl.  _ Which meant he  _ wasn’t passing anymore. _ Because he wasn’t a kid anymore, he was a teenager, and teens weren’t as androgynous as kids were.  _ Puberty  _ was messing everything up.

“Melvin?”

He froze, holding his breath to stop crying. He fell invisible, watching them from where he sat.

“...Mevin we can see you.”

“Your clothes aren’t invisible.”

Right. Melvin sighed, letting himself be seen as George and Harold came over and kneeled next to him. “Are you ok, dude?” Harold asked, rubbing his back.

“...I’m not passing,” Melvin whispered, his voice breaking in a sob near the end. “I-I’m not- sh-she thought I was a- a  _ girl.  _ B-because of- of puberty. I’m not  _ passing. _ ”

George and Harold exchanged looks before hugging Melvin tightly. He started sobbing harder, squeezing them back. Harold made quiet shushing noises while George rubbed his back.

“It’s ok. You’re ok. Listen dude, you’re super manly, ok? I mean, you wear a bowtie!”

Melvin smiled slightly, sniffing and rubbing at his cheeks. “Thanks… ugh. I miss when I was ten and boys and girls looked exactly the same. It was so easy to look like a boy. I just cut my hair.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, we all think you’re a boy. We know it.”

“Yeah." Harold smiled, and Melvin smiled back. The three of them sat back against the wall. “...Y’know, someone thought I was a girl once because I was wearing a dress.”

“Well kids look a lot more similar than teens-”

“No, this was recently. Like, last week.” Melvin laughed. Harold grinned and nudged him. “See? Even… what’s the word for not trans?”

“Cis.”

“Even cis boys get mistaken for girls sometimes. Sometimes guys just have baby faces.”

“...yeah,” Melvin said. “I guess you’re right.”

“Yeah. Oh! And we brought these for you.” George pulled out the pack of pads and handed them to Melvin. He stared at them, then at George.

“Oh. Th-thank you. Here, I have-”

“Keep it.” George pushed Melvin’s hand, which was holding a 5 dollar bill, back towards his chest. “It’s fine. We had plenty.”

“Are you sure?”

“Completely.” Harold nodded in agreement. “Do you still wanna go home? Movie night offer is still wide open.”

“We could watch Mulan.” George grinned. Melvin smiled softly and nodded.

“Yeah. Thanks, guys. Let’s hurry though, a wad of toilet paper is not good for holding a lot of blood.”


End file.
